Life preserver



April 24, 1945. BROWN 2,374,58Q

LIFE PRESERVER Filed June 9, 1943 A? INVENTOR.

y, 4 Frederick A. firon'rz Patented Apr. 24, 1945 2,374,580 'LIFEPRESERVER Frederick LJBrown, Greenfield, Ohio, .assignor to The AmericanPad &Textile Company, Greene I field, Ohio, 2. corporation oflqhio V aApp i atijonJunell,1943;"Serial.No.490,157 1 1 Claim. (ore-17),

This invention relates to a. life preserver and has for a principalobject a simplified construction whereby the life preserver may be wornby a person such as a soldier. or sailor, wearing .a pack on his back,without disturbing the pack.

Another object is to providesuch a lifepreserver which maybe put on ortaken oil in a fraction of time by a person burdened in the mannerdescribed.

.Another object is the provision of a device of this kind, which inspite of its simplicity of construction, is highly etfectiveforsupporting the wearer in the water, and whichis provided with meanswhich render the positioned life preserver substantiallynon-displaceable.

Another .objectis to provide a life preserver comprising the featuresmentioned, which likewise performs the function of turning the wearerfrom a face downward to a face upward posiwithout effort on the tionautomatically, wearers part. r 1

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein, andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the life preserver of thisinvention in operative position on a wearer, parts being shown in dottedlines.

, Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the device as seen in Fig. 1. r1

Fig. 3 isa top plan view of the life preserver.

Fig. 4 is across-sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig.3. H \1 Liferpreservers. heretofore; in; common use have usually been of the jacket?type: that is to say, inthe general form of a jacket, and therefore puton and taken offgin the manner of a jacket. Should the wearer of. thisfolder type of jacket have military .or other equipment fastened to hisbody and back, it is obvious that the matter of putting on and wearingthis jacket type of life preserver was a matter of some difficulty.Other older. types of life preservers involved similar difiiculties orelse failed to maintain their position and properly perform theirfunction.

The present invention overcomes difficulties suchas those described bythe provision in the life preserver of the advantagesYmentioned Ybriefly in the objects above, that is to say, a life preserver which maybe instantly donned by'a person carrying full military equipment;

over the shoulders;

use by simply throwing the preserver backwardly In greaterdetaibandwith:' reference to the drawing, the life preserver comprises three,principal parts, namely, apairof buoyanttunnel members E and 6 joined attheir upper ends, in

generally parallel relationship, by, a buoyant neckmemberl.

Thetunnel members 5 and 6 are preferably formed ofxa .durable'coveringmaterials, such as canvas, filled with a stuiling .9, such as kapok.The. lower portions of the tunnel members may .be substantially straightaslseen in Fig. 3 and the upper portions .curved. The l latter. "arejoined as at 1B,.Fig. 4, to the edgeseam of the :neck member 7. Thelatter is a cushion-like structure and in outline may be substantiallyrectangular as-seen in Fig. 3. Similarly to the tunnel memberarthe neckmember is formed of canvas-like covering. material-l3 and kapok orsimilar .stuffing 14. The neck member may be centrally constricted suchas by the tuck I I Fig. 3, .to provide a curvedneckportion [2. At

the sides of this neck portion I2, the tunnel members}. "and. 6i-are,connected to the neck member, which ,connection,together with thecurved: form of theupp-er, portions of the tunnel members, results in:the, latter converging inwardly: toward one ano-theradjacenttheirnpper'portions, to form a substantially V-shaped neck, opening. Atthesametime, the lower portionsofthe tunnelmembers, as seen in Fig. 3,diverge from one. another to some extent in the fiat positionl ofpthelife preserver. However,

when the latter is ;,put3on the wearenthis di- :vergen ce disappearsand-the tunnel members assume 5a parallel position, as will be. furtherdescribed.- 1 r y Each of the. rearcorners of the neck member I has astrap l5 and 16, respectively, secured thereto. The lower portion of oneof the tunnel members such as the member 6,. has an adjustable strap l1secured thereto as at I8, adjacent one end of the strap. The endof thestrap ll,

adjacent the securing point l3, has a buckle or ring 23 connectedthereto, and the opposite free end of the strap has the snap hook 22 seecured thereto. Strap guide'lS is provided on the opposite tunnel member5.

The life preserver is put on by placing the neck member 1 at the back of"the wearers neck, with l the tunnel members extending down the front ofthe wearer. It will be seen in Fig. 1 that the neck member 1. in no wayinterferes with a pack or knapsack, indicated generally at 20, carriedon the back of the person wearing the life preserver. The straps l andI6, hanging downwardly from the rear corners of the neck member I, areeach carried under the adjacent arm of the wearer and tied across thetunnel members 5 and 6, at the front, as shown at 2|, Figs. 1. and 2.This tying of the strap members and i6 constricts or concentrates thetunnel members 5 and 6 along the central portions of the front of thewearer, which central positioning'is important in achieving theturning-over function of the life preserver, as will be further referredto.

The neck member 1 fits well up around the back of the wearers neck andreadily conforms thereto by reason of the curved neck portion l2 and thepulling together of the tunnel members at the front. The tuck I I alsotends to form a kind of crotch in which the wearers head is wellsupported against turning or lolling to one side or the other, as in acase where the wearer might be unconscious.

The adjustable strap "which, of course, has previously been properlyadjusted to the individual wearers requirement, is now carried aroundthe back of the wearer and the free end passed through the guide I9.Thereafter the hook 22 is snapped on to the cooperating buckle or ring23 on the opposite tunnel member for further holding the tunnel membersin place. The engaged position of the hook 22 and buckle 23 is seen inFig. 2.

As already stated, the life preserver in no way interferes with theequipment carried by the wearer, and may be donned in a fraction oftime. When the life preserver is taken off, the upper strap connection2| is undone and the hook 22 released, whereupon the tunnel members maysimply be thrown backwardly over the shoulders of the wearer forcompletely releasing the preserver.

It is obvious that the facility of positioning and removal of the lifepreserver and its novel disposed in more or less flat position over thestructure, permitting the maximum equipment 4 to be carried withoutinterfering with the use of the preserver, are all highlyimportant'factors under modern usage, and particularly modern warfarewhere disembarkments, whether by design or by necessity, are frequent.

It is important to note that the central positioning of the tunnelmembers down the front of the wearer results in concentrating thebuoyant material in such manner that should the wearer be unconscious,or should he desire to rest from swimming, or treading water, the tunnelmembers in a fraction of time automatically turn the wearer upon hisback with his head supported well out of the water by the neck member I.preservers in which the buoyant material was It may be remarked thatprior life from working upwardly out of position.

front of the wearer, failed to perform this tuming-over function, sincethe wearer was simply supported by this front buoyant material, as on araft, a position which might well prove fatal, should the wearer, asfrequently happens, be unconscious. The present life preserver, on theother hand, renders the face down position of the wearer unstable sothat he is almost immediately turned over onto his back without efforton his part when he so desires, or when, due to unconsciousness, he isunable to control his position. The upper and lower straps preventaccidental displacement of the life preserver, and the upper straps I 5and 16 passing across the arm-pits of the wearer, effectively precludethe life preserver The strap- I1 is preferably of such strength as to beutilized for lifting the wearer of the life-preserver thereby, it beingcontemplated that a hook or the like may be'used for engaging the strapI l for lifting the wearer, as for example, in cases of emergency.-

Variations will suggest themselves upon consideration of the meansdisclosed herein, but these are believed to be comprised within thespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is A life preserver comprising a buoyant back member,elliptical in longitudinal cross-section and extending transverselyacross the upper portion only of a wearer back,-said back member havinga centrally disposed concave portion in its front marginaledge forengaging the back of the wearers neck; two spaced, independent, buoyanttunnel members each having a reduced upper part and a rounded bodyportion in transverse cross-section and of substantially equaltransverse extent throughout its entire length; narrow hinge portions ofreduced thickness disposed on opposite sides of the concave portion andeach hinge portion joining the upper reduced edge of a tunnel memberto'the back member, the opposed side edges of the upper portions of thetunnel members converging outwardly from the hinge portions on smoothcurves to form, with the concave portion, a close fitting neck opening,said opposed edges thereafter diverging from the neck opening to thefree ends of the tunnel memberg when the preserver is in a flatcondition, to provide, in wearing position, abutting members whichextend down the central front part of the wearer; and strap fastened tothe rear corners of the back member and each extending beneath thewearers arm and across the tunnel members for maintaining the tunnelmembers in the said wearing position.

FREDERICK L. BROWN.

